Tag Archives: centipede hz

#1388: Animal Collective – Today’s Supernatural

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At the time of writing this, my old laptop on which I listened to Animal Collective’s Centipede Hz for the first time is on the fritz. Looks like a black-screen-of death situation going on, it might be game over. I’d like to be accurate with these things and give the exact date I saved all the files to it. I’ve done that before. But for now, I’ll have to go by memory. What I’m pretty sure of is that the listening-through would have happened in 2014, during a time when I was really getting into Animal Collective, and I was either in my room at university or at home during the summer. Not my favourite album by the group, I will say. I do appreciate it for being the 180-move in production and sound from Merriweather Post Pavilion and maybe alienating bandwagoners who started following AnCo ’cause of that album just to be cool. But I only really like four songs on it. Three of those four are at the beginning of the album. It starts strongly. ‘Today’s Supernatural’ is the second song on Centipede… and was the first single from it too, getting a music video to boot.

I sort of remember seeing the title and thinking, “Today’s supernatural… what?” My feeling was it was probably an incomplete thought, some kind of wordplay that wasn’t unusual when it came to Animal Collective song titles. No, it very much means ‘Today Is Supernatural’, and it was a nice surprise to find out when the song name’s sort of stated eventually. Just something I thought was worth sharing. When it comes to the song’s content, I’ve always been impressed with how it sounds like it’s taking place on some warped, demented ride at a carnival. I think it’s the arpeggiated organ throughout that adds to the feeling. Another thing that attracted me to the song was how the rhythm was constantly shifting. It begins as a fast waltz, before abruptly moving into a stomping, syncopated rhythm in 4/4 before going back again. Always switching between the waltzing and the stomping, it is. But what got me the most was Avey Tare’s vocal performance. They were somewhat restrained on Merriweather…, but definitely had their excitable moments. None of them though compare in the wild “Come on and le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-let go”s that begin each verse here or the scream he produces as the instrumentation and soundscape fall into each other at the song’s finish. Those are some vocal tics that’ll get you shakin’.

Even now, I’m not sure I have the song’s meaning all figured out. I did think it was about embracing the world outside and undergoing new experiences, without really digging deep. But actually looking at the lyrics and reading them, ‘Today’s Supernatural’ appears to be about a love interest who Tare, or the narrator, feels they’re not good enough for. At least that’s what I’m seeing. Taking out the ‘bionic hee haw’ / ‘erratic see saw’ phrases, ’cause they could literally mean anything, the song’s narrator expresses an admiration for this subject of interest and proceeds to say all the things they wish they could say to this person. Everything however is summed up in the final lines, “I made a shadow with my hand and made it like your heart / But they will never be the same”. Whatever hopes of a relationship the narrator is thinking could happen, it’s all wishful thinking. Maybe that’s why the song ends with that abrupt descent into madness the way it does, they just can’t handle this admission. It’s a tale as old as time. An obvious highlight on this album, got a lot of love for it.

#1142: Animal Collective – Rosie Oh

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The first few times I’d be playing through Animal Collective’s Centipede Hz when I was getting into the group all those years ago, I’ve gotta say its third song ‘Rosie Oh’ passed me by without much of a second thought on my part. It gets a bit of a raw deal with is position in the tracklisting. The album’s hyped up with its charging first track, which in turn is followed by the unpredictably hyper second (also the first single). You wonder how this hectic momentum built by these two numbers will be carried on. Then ‘Rosie Oh’ comes into the frame, and it sounds like a stroll in the park compared to them – albeit containing the same loaded production choices that have been established in the opening tracks. But somewhere along the way, I came to appreciate it a lot more. And now I can write three paragraphs about it with that appreciation.

After playing a huge part in the direction of the sample-heavy, neo-psychedelia of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear took more of a backseat for Centipede. Quite literally too, as he resumed drumming duties as the four members decided to make their music as more of a typical rock band unit again. Lennox provides two tracks on the album that he takes the lead vocal. One of them I’ve discussed already. ‘Rosie Oh’ isn’t quite as large and swooping as ‘New Town Burnout’, but it certainly surprises you in terms of its structure. There’s a bridge, which you’d think would return back to the melody of the beginning verses, but it goes into another section that in turn goes into a somewhat sudden and unexpected ending after a simmering instrumental break.

The track seems to be an account of someone who has no place to go after being forced out of wherever they once used to live, carrying nothing but a backpack on their person. They’re offered a ride by a stranger and a place to stay by another, but the narrator refuses these and opts to go on their merry way. Maybe the ‘stroll in the park’ feeling of the music is something that’s very much intentional. It’s literally what’s described in the words. Still, being on their own raises the question of whether their lone experiences are essentially worth it without at least having someone their to accompany them. Someone who can be invested in their feelings and bring some relief when things get too heavy. The narrator has an existential crisis at the song’s end: Did they forge this path in life, or did they just let it happen to them? It’s left unresolved, and the album continues onto the next track. But ‘Rosie…’ is definitely an interesting one. More interesting than I think people give it credit. Thumbs up from me.

#915: Animal Collective – New Town Burnout

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‘New Town Burnout’ is one of two tracks that Noah Lennox, known as Panda Bear by many a person, brought to the table when he and his fellow bandmates in Animal Collective set out to make Centipede Hz. The album turns ten in September this year, time flies, huh. The song was one that was a leftover from Lennox’s solo Tomboy project that had been released the year before. It’s fair to say that you can tell this was the case just by listening to them both. They share the same sonic similarities, a huge emphasis on its percussive elements and the low-end with enveloping reverb-drenched chord progressions on top. The main difference here though is that the track’s filled with all these snippets of samples and noises, in keeping with Centipede‘s alien band radio concept.

I didn’t get to Centipede Hz until about 2014. That was the year I was on my Animal Collective trip, trying to find as much of their music as I could. ‘New Town Burnout’ stuck out as a highlight to me, I think on that second or third listen, and with all the listens since then I continue to find little moments, melodies and other oddities in the mix that are never so apparent on the first try. Like how when Panda starts singing his verse, there’s this other vocal that mirrors his, but is continually ascending and descending. It’s hard to describe. It’s hard to describe a lot of things on here actually. There are guitars, but they don’t sound like them. There are these ‘hoo-hoo-hoo’ vocals which might not even be vocals. The only thing that remains consistent is the booming rhythm. Very hypnotizing when you focus on it, and it’s only interrupted by those erratic synths that then transition into the next track.

Panda Bear’s a family man. He likes the simple things in life. He’s written plenty of songs that echoes those sentiments. And ‘New Town Burnout’ is no different in that it’s about being bored with touring, and wanting to go home and sit down in peace for a bit. When he makes it back to his place, he’ll take off his shoes and coat, he’ll put his belongings someplace (doesn’t really matter where, he’ll know where they are) and sleep without having to worry about the things that usually arise when on the road. Can’t say I’m in the position where I can relate, but he sings it very well and sounds very earnest which is want you always want from a song. When he goes for those higher notes for the “No more at the wrong…” lyrics, it’s always a thumbs up. And as the track nears its end, he lulls the listener to slumber with those elongated repetitions of “Light” before stressing that “t” sound on the beat. Words don’t do the music much justice, but it’s good, good stuff.

#857: Animal Collective – Moonjock

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I was a couple years late when it came to hearing Centipede Hz for the first time. Although it was released in the autumn of 2012, it wasn’t until my first year of university that I had my Animal Collective phase and went through their big four albums to see what all the fuss was about. The fuss wasn’t in vain. That run of albums is one of the greatest of mid-late 2000s indie music. Though through research, I witnessed that people didn’t take to Centipede Hz as kindly. Pitchfork Media likened the music on there to a burrito being thrown at a windshield. And it seemed that a lot of fans they had gained just wanted an MPP Part 2, and when they didn’t they got upset. As someone who wasn’t aware of any of that at that point, I can say with all my heart that Centipede Hz is all right. Not my favourite, but probably a lot of other people’s. I’d say it’s like a spiritual successor to Strawberry Jam. It has some great songs on there. ‘Moonjock’ is one, and it’s the first song on there.

So you put in the CD, or just click on the track name on streaming services, and you get these strange vocal samples that glitch and switch from one voice to another. Kinda like switching a radio channel, which was part of the concept of the album. A countdown ensues, and the track’s official rhythm begins with a stomping 7/4 beat accentuated by an open hi-hat. Sounds very metallic, like I’m in a factory with these pumps and other robotic things you find in those places. That feel’s maintained throughout. But it’s contrasted with the nostalgic lyricism by Avey Tare who remembers the good times of driving on the road with his family as a kid. His father would take the wheel, his mom would sing to pass the time, and generally they’d go from place to place to a point where he was hypnotized by everything he’d seen. It’s a burst of energy and youthful excitement, a good tone to start of any album with.

The track comes to a sudden stop just as things seem to start getting wilder, but all this radio interference lingers. Long enough that it transitions into the next track and the album carries on its momentum. But, you know. Well, maybe you don’t. Animal Collective fans know that the group tend to start their albums off very well. You can count on them for good album openers. ‘Moonjock’ is no exception.